The Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) of the NDA government opened a window for black money squirrels to declare their wealth ill-gotten and to come clean.

The government, to facilitate the filing of declarations, has ensured extension of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) working hours until 8 pm on Wednesday and Thursday. The offices of Income Tax Department will remain open until the midnight all over the country today.

What does the scheme represent?
The scheme that came into effect for four months from June 1 this year announced by the government aimed from the domestic economy to bring out black money. Those who declared their un-taxed wealth under this scheme were allowed to make payments as follows:

A 25% minimum amount of the tax, penalty and surcharge to be paid by 30 November 2016;

A further 25% amount of the tax, penalty and surcharge to be paid by 31 March 2017;

The balance amount to be paid by 30 September 2017.

The time given for making payments was extended taking into consideration the practical difficulties of the stakeholders, who feared they need to resort to sale of assets.
Penalty for tax evaders or people failing to declare deposits and assets under the IDS is 100 percent to 300 percent. Apart from this, jail terms range from three months to seven years, based on the fault severity and laxity.

The government is hoping to collect Rs 50,000 crore worth taxes and declaration amount worth Rs 1 lakh crore. The government has assured the information declared would be kept confidential and will never be reflected.